The reader should notice that in 3 Nephi 11:1 it does not say that the temple was located in the "city of Bountiful," but rather "in the land Bountiful." If we were to interpret the phrase "land of Bountiful" as the general land Bountiful, then there could be a wide variance as to the location of this temple.
One statement by the 16th Century writer Ixtlilxochitl points out that after Quetzalcoatl had taught his people, he "ascended" from them at Coatzacoalcos. (Ixtlilxochitl: 39) The city of Coatzacoalcos today is in the state of Veracruz, just across the Coatzacoalcos River by the Gulf of Mexico. [See Geographical Theory Maps] [See the commentary on 3 Nephi 28:1]
The Sermon at the Temple
For John Welch, the term "Sermon at the Temple" has come to symbolize, in general, all of Christ's interactions with and teachings to the Nephites found in chapters 11-18 of 3 Nephi. However, Victor Ludlow focuses on the fact that during his visit, Christ delivered three main sermons. He terms the first of these sermons "The Sermon at the Temple." So as to keep the reader from confusion, the following is an outline of the sermons:
A. Welch: The General Sermon at the Temple (chapters 11-18)
B. Ludlow: Three Main Sermons:
1. The Sermon at the Temple (chapters 12, 13, 14)
2. The Law and the Covenant Discourse (chapters 15, 16)
3. The Covenant People Discourse (chapter 20:10--23:5)
“The Temple”
An interesting passage from Isaiah reads:
And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow into it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob . . . (Isaiah 2:2-3; see also 2 Nephi 12:2-3 and Micah 4:2)
When Abraham built his altar called Bethel, it was on top of a mountain (Genesis 12:8). Throughout southern Mexico and Guatemala, the remains of ancient altars and shrines appear on mountain tops. . . . The Maya word for their temple towers is Ku, the same word for God. Hunab Ku designated the Maya father-God of the universe. Thus the concept of the temple as an artificial mountain made holy by the presence of God was also well-known in the New World. [Bruce W. Warren and Thomas Stuart Ferguson, The Messiah in Ancient America, pp. 163-166] [See the commentary on 2 Nephi 12:2-3]
“The Temple”
John Welch notes, and every reader of the Book of Mormon should make note as well, that in light of all that can be said about temples in the Book of Mormon, it should be remembered that in 1829, when the Book of Mormon was translated, Joseph Smith had scarcely thought or dreamed of a temple. Two years later he and the Church would move to Kirtland, where a temple was dedicated in 1836. The ordinances of washing, anointing, and the washing of feet were performed in that temple, but the full endowment was not given until 1843 in Nauvoo. Joseph Smith did not live to see the completion of the Nauvoo Temple, but he completed the task of revealing its essential architectural and ceremonial components that epitomize the gospel of Jesus Christ and its eternal laws and ordinances. In retrospect, we can see today that the blueprint of the Restoration for worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ in his holy house was already largely embedded in the texts of the Book of Mormon. [John W. Welch, "The Temple in the Book of Mormon," in Temples of the Ancient World, p. 377]
The Sermon at the Temple
According to John Welch, ever since the publication of the Book of Mormon, one of the standard criticisms raised by those seeking to discredit the book has been the assertion that it plagiarizes the King James Version of the Bible, and the chief instance of alleged plagiarism is the Sermon on the Mount in 3 Nephi 12-14. Mark Twain quipped that the Book of Mormon contains passages "smouched from the New Testament, and no credit given." Reverend M.T. Lamb, who characterized the Book of Mormon as "verbose, blundering and stupid," viewed 3 Nephi 11-18 as a mere duplication of the Sermon on the Mount "word for word," and saw "no excuse for this lack of originality and constant repetition of the Bible," for "we have all such passages already in the [Bible], and God never does unnecessary things."
The case of critics like Mark Twain and Reverend Lamb gains most of its appeal by emphasizing the similarities and discounting the differences between Matthew 5-7 and 3 Nephi 12-14. Under closer textual scrutiny, however, these differences turn out to be very significant. The Book of Mormon always correctly cites the differences in Christ's Sermons (Mount/Temple) that reflect a post-resurrection setting. [John W. Welch, The Sermon at the Temple and the Sermon on the Mount, F.A.R.M.S., p. 32]
“The Temple”
Andrew Skinner notes that one of the most widely read and respected LDS scholars, Hugh Nibley, Professor Emeritus at Brigham Young University, has written that:
what makes a Temple different from other buildings is not its sacredness, but its form and function. What is that form? We can summarize a hundred studies of recent date in the formula: A Temple, good or bad, is a scale-model of the universe. The first mention of the word templum is by Varro, for whom it designates a building specially designed for interpreting signs in the heavens--a sort of observatory where one gets one's bearings on the universe. The root tem- in Greek and Latin denotes a "cutting" or intersection of two lines at right angles, "the point where the cardo and decumanus cross," hence where the four regions come together, every Temple being carefully oriented to express "the idea of pre-established harmony between a celestial and a terrestrial image." (Hugh W. Nibley, "What is a Temple?" in The Temple in Antiquity, p. 22).
[Andrew C. Skinner, "Inextricable Link between Temple, Covenant, and Chosenness," in Covenant and Chosenness in Judaism and Mormonism, p. 74]
Note* It is very interesting that of all the symbolic places where Jesus could have appeared to the Nephites, he chose to do so at the temple, a place symbolically represented by a cross. Moreover, the location of the temple was in Bountiful, denoting the abundance of all the earth, a spot which appropriately represented harmony and communion between heaven and earth. Christ's life was truly symbolic both spiritually and temporally (see 1 Nephi 22:1-3) [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes]
“There Were a Great Multitude Gathered Together of the People of Nephi Round About”
According to John Welch, the stated purpose of the Sermon at the Temple is to show the disciple how to be exalted at the final judgment. Jesus said, "Whoso remembereth these sayings of mine and doeth them, him will I raise up at the last day" (3 Nephi 15:1). The Sermon contains, therefore, not just broad moral platitudes, but a concise presentation of conditions that must be satisfied in order to be admitted into God's presence (see 3 Nephi 14:21-23).
Interestingly, a few New Testament scholars have begun hinting that the Sermon on the Mount had cultic or ritual significance in the earliest Christian community. Betz, for example, sees the Sermon on the Mount as revealing the principles that "will be applied at the last judgment," and thinks that the Sermon on the Mount reminded the earliest Church members of "the most important things the initiate comes to 'know' through initiation," containing things that "originally belonged in the context of liturgical initiation." Indeed, the word "perfect" (teleios, Matthew 5:48) has long been associated with becoming initiated into the great religious mysteries. [John W. Welch, "The Sermon at the Temple," in Reexploring the Book of Mormon, p. 254-255; for extensive information see also The Sermon at the Temple and the Sermon on the Mount]
According to John Welch, Jesus could have picked a lot of places to appear, but he chose to appear at the temple. Thus, this is a profound temple-related text. . . . Some New Testament scholars, W. D. Davies in particular, have toyed with the idea that when the New Testament refers to the Sermon on the Mount, no normal mountain is meant. In ancient Israel there was one mount, and that, of course, was the Temple Mount. "Let us go up unto the mountain of the Lord" (Isaiah 2:2-3; Micah 4:2) refers to the temple in Jerusalem. Thus, some New Testament scholars who have sought Jewish backgrounds for the Sermon on the Mount have toyed with the idea that what Jesus is delivering is a new temple-related sermon in the Sermon on the Mount. [John W. Welch, "The Sermon at the Temple, Law and Covenant," in Hugh W. Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 4, p. 126] [See the commentary on 3 Nephi 12,13,14]
“There Were a Great Multitude Gathered Together of the People of Nephi Round About”
Why was there "a great multitude" (3 Nephi 11:1) gathered at the temple? John Welch suggests that if you were a Nephite and you were standing around in Bountiful after the signs of Jesus' death had been given, there would still be a bit of a question in your mind what you should do next. The law of Moses was a very broad concept. Not only did it require the observance of commandments and ordinances, it embraced the Nephites' entire constitutional law, public law, civil law, and private law on commercial transactions. You would have known by the Savior's words out of the darkness that the law of Moses was in some way superseded ("In me is the law of Moses fulfilled"--see 3 Nephi 9:17), but you would still ask yourself, What do we do? Do we go about reconstructing the law ourselves? Do we look to the prophet to give us the law? Do we wait for Christ himself to come? Do we still go up to the temple on feast days? These would have been questions that they wouldn't have had an immediate answer to. They knew that something incredibly important had happened--the destructions made that perfectly obvious. They knew that something was no longer applicable. But the voice from heaven in 3 Nephi 9 hadn't really clarified this issue very much either, the voice simply said, "In me is the law of Moses fulfilled." . . .
One of the temple-related requirements for the law of Moses was a gathering three times a year. You will find this in Exodus 23, throughout Leviticus, and toward the end of Deuteronomy. . . . Three times a year all Israel had to present itself before God at the temple. What for? Primarily for covenant renewal. When Joshua says (in Joshua 24:15), "Choose you this day whom ye will serve," this isn't the first time Israel has chosen to follow Jehovah. This is part of a covenant renewal ceremony, very much like you renew your covenants of baptism every Sunday when the priests say a specially worded covenant prayer and you say, "Amen" and partake, and then listen to a gospel speech. Anciently at the temple they read the statutes, they read the law, they were instructed by the priests, and they performed certain rituals and ordinances. They had a liturgy that they followed very specifically on each of these high, holy festival days, these feasts. The three that were convocation festivals were Passover, Pentecost, and the Year-rite Festivals, which brought together in the ancient world all of the elements of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement; the Feast of Tabernacles; and Rosh ha-Shanah, the New Year, which appears to have been a single ritual complex in the pre-exilic period.
Additionally, in 3 Nephi 9:19-20 the voice said, "ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings. And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. . . ." That phrase, by the way, comes right out of Psalms 51:17, and as such was always thought in pious Judaism as the necessary precondition for making a valid sacrifice of any kind. Did that mean to the Nephites that their feast days had been done away with? In other words, would the broken heart and contrite spirit still be a part of feast day celebration, only they just wouldn't offer blood sacrifice?
A logical conclusion might be that if they were living the law of Moses and still strictly doing so, the observance of the festival requirements would not yet have been abrogated; therefore, it would have been logical for all of this Nephite "multitude" to have presented itself before the Lord at the temple. [John W. Welch, "The Sermon at the Temple, Law and Covenant," in Hugh W. Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 4, pp. 122-123]
“Temple”
According to John Welch, if Jesus only had a short time to spend with the Nephites, what he would have taught them would have been things of ultimate importance. It is at the temple that we should expect to find, and in fact do find, a systematic and single presentation of the entire gospel--one that puts you into perspective with all that has gone on, where you have come from, why you are here, and what it will take for you to achieve exaltation. As we will see, this is in fact what we find in the Sermon at the Temple. I will suggest to you an interpretation that invites you to let your mind think about the temple, covenant, sacred, and secret kinds of things. . . . I'm not suggesting that what the Nephites had was exactly the same as what you will encounter and have encountered in Latter-day Saint temples, but the elements are there. They are there in a more astonishing and a more profound manner than anyone has previously suspected.
There is a problem with the Sermon on the Mount for most non-Latter-day Saint interpreters. It is fair to say that the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew has been a real puzzle for those people who have tried to understand it. . . . The Book of Mormon offers us such a solution. It asks us to think as we read this text about temples, covenant making, etc. As far as I know, it is the only interpretation that will account adequately for all of the elements in the speech, and it does so masterfully. Consider for just an overview the prima facie case that what we are talking about here is some kind of ritual text:
1. It begins in chapter 11 with certain initiatory kinds of ordinances--concerns about ordination to the priesthood, baptism, and a few other things that have to be taken care of before you can go on into the instruction portion of the text.
2. When you get the actual commandments that are given, Jesus labels these his commandments several times, but only in the Book of Mormon. This is not a term that is known from the New Testament in this context.
3. Next, we go through, in 3 Nephi 12;18-19, the giving of the law of obedience. What is that law of obedience? It is that we must sacrifice and bring the broken heart and contrite spirit. As the Nephites learned in 3 Nephi 9, as the voice of Jesus spoke from the heavens, that is now the replacement, the new law of sacrifice that they are to live.
4. Next we go to an instruction about not being angry or speaking evil of one another.
5. Another instruction pertains to the law of chastity and Christ teaches the importance of the new understanding of the commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery."
6. Christ teaches them the law pertaining to generosity toward those who are in need, which has been identified in the Doctrine and Covenants as the law of the gospel, as we will see in a minute.
7. The Savior goes on to explain that his covenant people must reach yet to a higher order and teaches them that they must be totally committed to the kingdom of God, that a man cannot serve two masters. A Man must serve either God or mammon, and he tells us what we must do in order to lay up treasures in heaven with our wealth.
There are other elements that are involved as well. Even a person who is completely unfamiliar with the Latter-day Saint temple could readily see how a number of other elements in the Sermon on the Mount could easily be placed into a ritual context. For example:
1. The use of beatitudes was a common and initial statement of promises in mystery religions and in ritual to tell the initiate what the ultimate blessings of obedience would be.
2. There is also a requirement in the Sermon on the Mount that if anyone has hard feelings against his brother, he should lay his gift at the altar and go and be reconciled before coming to proceed any further. 3. There are instructions in the Sermon on the Mount as to how to swear one's oaths. They should not be sworn by the heavens or by the earth, but they should simply be a yes or no.
4. There is instruction as to how to pray in a group context, and
5. Ultimately Jesus robes his disciples in garments more glorious than the temple garments of even Solomon, and then explains to them how they will pass through the judgment and ultimately be admitted into the presence of God.
That is just a skeleton but it should suggest to you at least a prima facie case that invites closer scrutiny of each aspect of this speech in a ritual context. . . . [John W. Welch, "Christ at the Nephite Temple," in Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 4, pp. 129-130]
The Doctrine and Covenants affirms that the Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the gospel. One of the criticisms that has been raised by people--some legitimate and serious seekers of truth and others who were simply trying to discredit the Book of Mormon--is that if the Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the gospel, why doesn't it contain some of the things that Latter-day Saints think to be of ultimate importance? It seems to me that perhaps we can answer that question now in a more powerful way than we had ever suspected before. Indeed, of the Book of Mormon it is said that it will be viewed as a weak thing, as a thing of naught, and that it is out of some of the things that will be viewed as the weakest of all that the Lord will turn into great strengths. Sometimes we look beyond the mark. There it might be right under our nose, and yet we don't see. We don't perceive. Our eyes and ears are not attuned, and we're not ready. Or maybe it just is that it is not the time for those kinds of things to be brought forth. [John W. Welch, "Sacrament Prayers, Implications of the Sermon at the Temple," in Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 4, p. 149]
The Sermon at the Temple
John Welch proposes forty-seven elements of the Sermon at the temple. If these are understood in connection with defining a covenant relationship between man and God, consider how it makes better sense in connection with establishing a new order of a covenant people, and how it makes better sense if you imagine it being ritualized, or having at least the capacity of being built into a ritual ceremony. One of the main features of ritual in ancient Israel and elsewhere was to take the great, momentous events between god and man and ritualize those events. The momentous events in the Garden of Eden lend themselves to ritualization. The momentous events of God appearing at Mount Sinai became the basis of Israelite temple ritual as they reenacted, remembered, and renewed the covenant that was made at Sinai. . . . It would be therefore, quite logical for the Nephites also to have ritualized the momentous teaching of Jesus which brought in a new haven and a new earth. The following is a summary of those forty-seven elements:
1. A thrice-repeated announcement from above. (3 Nephi 11:3-5)
2. Opening the ears and eyes. (3 Nephi 11:5)
. . . The opening of the ears and eyes can mark the beginning of a ritual ceremony (as it expressly does in Mosiah 2:9), and can symbolize the commencement of an opening of the mysteries and a deeper understanding of what is truly being said and done. . . .
3. Delegation of duty by the Father to the Son. (3 Nephi 11:7)
. . . The general pattern this reveals is how the Father himself does not personally minister to beings on earth, but does all things by sending the Son as his representative . . .
4. Coming down. (3 Nephi 11:8)
Graphically, Christ came down with teachings and instructions from above. He came robed in garments worthy of mention . . . elements rich with possible ritual implementation and significance. (See Hugh Nibley, "Sacred Vestments," F.A.R.M.S., 1987)
5. Silence. (3 Nephi 11:8)
6. Identification by marks on the hand. (3 Nephi 11:9-11)
7. Falling down. (3 Nephi 11:12)
. . . Bowing down--or more dramatically, full prostration . . . particularly in a temple context, had long been a customary part of the Nephite covenant-making ceremony (see Mosiah 4:1)
8. Personally touching the wounds. (3 Nephi 11:13-15)
The Lord asked all the people to "arise and come forth . . . that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet." . . . Thus, their knowledge was made sure . . .
9. Hosanna Shout and falling down a second time. (3 Nephi 11:16-17)
Reminiscent of Melchizedek's blessing of Abraham, "Blessed be the most high God!" (Genesis 14:20) . . .
10. Ordination to the priesthood. (3 Nephi 11:18-22; 18:37; 19:4)
. . . At first Christ presumably ordains them to the Aaronic Priesthood, because he only gives them at this time the power to baptize. It won't be until the end of the day (at the end of 3 Nephi 18) that these same twelve are given the power to bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost and authority traditionally associated with the Melchizedek Priesthood.
11. Baptism explained (3 Nephi 11:23-28)
. . . This washing and purifying ordinance stands in this sequence as a necessary first step toward the kingdom of God.
12. Assuring the absence of evil. (3 Nephi 11:28-30)
Jesus took steps to assure that there were no disputations, contentions, or any influences of the devil among this people. . . .
13. Witnesses. (3 Nephi 11:31-36)
. . . This is an important element of most covenant making--that it be done in the presence of witnesses--and certainly on this occasion we have that condition fulfilled . . . the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. . . .
14. Teaching the Gospel (3 Nephi 11:37-41)
15. Commending his disciples unto the people. (3 Nephi 11:41--12:1)
. . . In order to ease their way, Jesus exhorts the people to give strict heed to the words of the disciples whom he has chosen. . . .
16. Blessings promised. (3 Nephi 12:3-12)
Several blessings, well known as the Beatitudes, were bestowed upon "all" the people. . . meaning on each individual present there. . . .
17. The people are invited to become the salt of the earth. (3 Nephi 12:13-16)
. . . This is an invitation to enter into a covenant with the Lord, carrying with it a solemn warning that those who violate the covenant will be cast out and trampled under foot (although one continues to invite them back (3 Nephi 18:32-33). . . .
The doctrine of the Two Ways, the separation of opposites, light (3 Nephi 12:16) and dark, and heaven and earth is fundamental . . . Some scholars have identified the creation account of Genesis as playing a key role in ancient Israelite temple ritual, although the details remain obscure. . .
18. The first set of laws explained. (3 Nephi 12:17-18)
. . . Jesus explains the essence of . . . the lower law administered anciently by the Aaronic Priesthood. . .
19. Obedience and sacrifice. (3 Nephi 12:19-20)
. . . The offering of "a broken heart and a contrite spirit" is none other than the new law of sacrifice, as the voice of the Lord had explained earlier from heaven (3 Nephi 9:19-20). This new law of obedience and sacrifice superseded the practices of sacrifice under the law of Moses and put an end to "the shedding of blood" (3 Nephi 9:19).
20. Prohibition against anger, ill-speaking, and ridicule of brethren. (3 Nephi 12:21-22)
. . . speaking evil against any other priesthood brother . . .
21. Reconciliation necessary before proceeding further (3 Nephi 12:23-26)
. . . if anyone desires to come unto him, he or she should have no hard feelings against any brother or sister . . . "first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I will receive you" (3 Nephi 12:23-24)
22. Chastity (3 Nephi 27-30)
The new law imposes a strict prohibition against sexual intercourse outside of marriage and . . . requires purity of heart and denial of these things. In committing to live by this law, the righteous bear a heavy responsibility . . . "wherein ye will take up your cross" (3 Nephi 12:30), a symbol of capital punishment..
23. Marriages of covenanters are not to be dissolved except for fornication (3 Nephi 12:31-32)
This demanding restriction applies only to husbands and wives who are bound by the eternal covenant relationship involved here.
24. Oaths sworn by saying Yes or No (3 Nephi 12:33-37)
25. Love of Enemies--the Law of the Gospel (3 Nephi 12:38-45)
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment, and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matthew 22:37-38)
26. Transition into a higher order (3 Nephi 12:46-48)
. . . "therefore (a transition word) I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect."
27. Giving to the poor (3 Nephi 13:1-4)
28. The order of prayer (3 Nephi 13:5-15)
29. Fasting, washing, and anointing (3 Nephi 13:16-18)
. . . true fasting is to be accompanied with anointing the head and washing the face. Washing the face, the head, the feet, the hands, or other parts of the body is symbolic of becoming completely clean (see John 13:9-10), "clean every whit" (John 13:10).
30. A requirement of consecration (3 Nephi 13:19-24)
. . . "No man can serve two masters . . . Ye cannot serve God and Mammon" (instructions tantamount to requiring one to consecrate all that one has and is to the Lord. . . .
31. Care promised for the twelve disciples. (3 Nephi 13:25-27)
32. Clothing (endowing) the disciples. (3 Nephi 13:25, 28-34)
33. Preparing for judgment. (3 Nephi 14:1-5 )
34. Secrecy required (3 Nephi 14:6)
. . . "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and rend you" (3 Nephi 14:6)
35. A three-fold petition. (3 Nephi 14:7-8)
"Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." (3 Nephi 14:7)
36. Seeking a gift from the Father. (3 Nephi 14:9-11
"Or what man is there of you, who, if his son ask [for] bread, will give him a stone?"
37. [Charity towards] other people. (3 Nephi 14:12)
. . . all followers of the Lord Jesus Christ are responsible to see that other people are shown the way to salvation and eternal life and, where necessary, assisted in every way possible. . . . and to perform for them, where necessary, any vicarious ordinances. . . .
38. Entering through a narrow opening (3 Nephi 14:13-14)
. . . "Enter ye in at the strait gate . . . "
39. Bearing the fruit of the Tree of Life. (3 Nephi 14:15-20)
. . . "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit . . . Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them. . . . (3 Nephi 18, 20)
40. Entering into the presence of the Lord. (3 Nephi 14:21-23)
41. Lecture on the portion of God's covenant with Israel yet to be fulfilled.
42. Admonition to ponder. (3 Nephi 17:1-3)
43. Healing the sick. (3 Nephi 17:5-10)
44. The parents and the children. (3 Nephi 17:11-25)
. . . "Behold, your little ones" . . . [they are yours]
45. The covenant memorialized and a new name given. (3 Nephi 18:1-14)
46. Continued worthiness required. (3 Nephi 18:15-25)
47. Conferring the power to give the Holy Ghost (3 Nephi 18:36-37)
[John W. Welch, "Christ at the Nephite Temple," in Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 4, pp. 119-163; see also John W. Welch, The Sermon at the Temple, F.A.R.M.S., pp. 34-83]
3 Nephi 11:1 (The Sermon at the Temple) [[Illustration]]: 47 Ritual Covenant Elements [John W. Welch, "Christ at the Nephite Temple," in Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 4, pp. 119-163; see also John W. Welch, The Sermon at the Temple, F.A.R.M.S., pp. 34-83]